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Evil~Shieldmaiden
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on: February 27, 2016 09:09
I saw this strip the other day and, as a cat owner of many years, found it hilarious.

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Gandolorin
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on: February 28, 2016 07:03
"My" squirrels (the ones who occasioally show up to get me to throw nuts down from the balcony for them to lug away) would probably have a hysterical laughing fit at that comic strip, and put it down to "cat fantasy". Image
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BelleBayard
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on: February 29, 2016 10:23
Funny, I was having dreams about squirrels last night. Hehehe...
Lindarielwen
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on: February 29, 2016 11:30
I haven't seen a squirrel in years. There were plenty in Ohio, but not down here. My cats would probably freak if they saw a squirrel.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
Gandolorin
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on: March 01, 2016 05:16
What really freaks cats is the squirrels' ability to hang on tree trunks with their hind legs, heads pointing downwards, and run down tree trunks, too, never mind run up and down and corkscrewing around tree trunks at a speed that makes cats heads spin. Image
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Lindarielwen
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on: March 02, 2016 11:40
Mine have to be happy with the birds, the hawks, the ducks, and the occasional lizard. This is a picture of Drago and Khaleesi. He is so much bigger than her but she never hesitates to jump on his head.

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My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
Gandolorin
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on: March 03, 2016 06:01
Drago seems to be quite fond of Khaleesi? He was in the picture you posted November 04, 2014 02:49, when she was still a tiny tot - in the wicker buggy. She sure has done some catching up, size-wise.
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Lindarielwen
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on: March 03, 2016 11:53
Drago was the first one to greet her when I brought her home. They all are kind of protective of her and let her get away with everything. She chases them all....they run through the house like wild things. Sometimes they fight and Khaleesi gets a smack on the head but that doesn't stop her.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
Gandolorin
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on: March 04, 2016 04:59
So is Drago something like the Big Boss Cat (maybe Big OLD Boss Cat)? In the sense that he gives out the "awright, enough already!" signals when things get too lively? In lion prides, if I remember correctly, the females hold the bunch together (males rarely exceed two, perhaps three years as pasha), and the main job besides reproduction for the males is to go beat up on the hyenas. Which might be the inner-city (inner-BIG-city) rats for the Felis catus poundage.
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Lindarielwen
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on: March 04, 2016 10:01
I really do have a Pride here. Drago is more like the enforcer but Strider is the one that is the leader. He just sits high up on the cat tree and watches what is going on but if they really get out of hand, it is Strider that stops it. It is so interesting to watch them and see how they interact.

Khaleesi though is the spoiled one. I wish I had some great pics of her wrestling with Kiefer but they always stop by the time I get my camera.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
Lindarielwen
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on: March 06, 2016 11:10
Well, I just went out on my porch to check on Gandalf. He was left behind when a neighbour moved years ago and after watching him sit on the steps for months waiting for them to come back, I brought him on my porch. Being an un-neutered male and wild, I couldn't let him in the house. But he was warm and dry and fed and did get visited by some of my cats once in a while and he had plenty of toys and a cat tree.

Gandalf would go outside at night and be home in the morning but the last few years he just stayed in. He caught the scent of another tom last week and broke through a screen and got outside and didn't come home for a while. When he came back, he was a little beat up but seemed alright.

I found him dead in his box a little while ago. I don't know what killed him unless he had internal injuries that I did not detect. I think he was about 8 years old.

He always meowed and came to me when I went out there. We used to sit and watch the ducks and he would chase the occasional lizard that somehow managed to get inside the porch.

I am not going to have him cremated. I am going to bury him in the woods that he loved.

He was grey with white paws. I am going to miss my porch kitty.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
Lindarielwen
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on: March 07, 2016 12:09
My inside cats are sitting by the porch door and are crying. Some are scratching at the door to go out. They know something is going on out there. I think I will take them out one by one and let them see Gandalf.

I have to wait until Bill gets home before I can go to the woods and bury him.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
elfmaiden77
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on: March 07, 2016 04:41
I'm sorry to hear about that, Linda. I have had five cats and lost four of them, so I understand your hurt very well. I love my cat I have now, though. He lives outside, and is nearly completely wild.
Gandolorin
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on: March 07, 2016 06:10
I must say that abandoning pets is something I cannot imagine. But then the last pet my family had was the boxer female - about 80 plus pounds of muscle, and playful as a pup up to here very early death from - probably - our vet getting medication fatally mixed up. Cats are somewhat more self-sufficient, from my limited experience.
Anecdote: I saw a cat outside the twelve-story building I lived in in the later 1980s. It very much resembled the cat a building neighbor had given me to take care of when he had some personal problems. I went up to it and picked it up with the supposed familiarity of having taken care of it. The cat was (in retrospect) surprised, but quickly retracted its claws and seemingly decided to humor me along. The neighbor lived in the (elevated) ground floor, so getting to his apartment door was done quickly. When he opened the door, I told him (perhaps a tad reproachfully) that I had found his cat outside. He gave me a quizzical look, and rightly so, and said "ah, no, my cat is right here." His cat immediately appeared from some room, and just as immediately got into a "what is that foreign cat doing here?!?" mode. Cat on arm also got into a "not-amused" mode with claws reappearing. That helped me to size up the situation correctly very quickly. So I carried non-resident cat back out the front door and released it. Since then, I know the facial expression of a cat corresponding to "what the §$%&ß#€µ@ was THAT all about?!?"
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Lindarielwen
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on: March 07, 2016 09:17
People leave pets behind around here all the time. I guess they think the animal will fare well because it's country. People who do that make me sick and there should be stricter laws about doing that.

I kept Gandalf on my porch for almost 5 years. I used to let him out at night and he would always be home in the morning. I stopped letting him out maybe a year ago. A few weeks ago when I went to tell him goodnight, he wasn't there. I thought he just got out when I went outside. This happened several times before I found the rip he made in the screen. He was just a wild tom doing his thing.

Cats with claws can very hard to handle, Gando. It was nice that you wanted to help get that one home.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
Gandolorin
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on: March 08, 2016 05:25
I have never met a cat without claws ...
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BelleBayard
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on: March 08, 2016 10:20
Unfortunately, outdoor kitties just don't live as long and males can suffer from kidney disease, which will take them early. So very sorry to hear about Gandalf. We lost Dalton, our big yellow used-to-be tom cat a few years back to it, but he just left and didn't come back after making his farewells to us. He actually came inside and lay beside us for about a week and the other cats seemed to know he was dying as they left him alone other than an occasional nose to nose greeting sans any hissing or other posturing. He was skin and bones by the time he asked to be let out and knowing cats often prefer NOT to stick around when that time comes, we let him out. We thanked him for spending time with us, but who knows where he went to leave our world. Several other cats are in our yard as well as a couple of small dogs, birds, and a rabbit. The ferrets we buried in the woods, together, as they had been since kits. You gave Gandalf as good as home as you could, Linda. That seriously counts for a lot.
Lindarielwen
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on: March 09, 2016 11:33
Thanks, yet again, for your kind words Belle. I have lost a lot of furkids over the last few years. I feel like I can't do this anymore.
My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
BelleBayard
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on: March 10, 2016 10:49
It's the pain and joy of sharing our lives with them. Their shorter lifespans we loose them long before we are ready to say good-bye. We rescue them and give them the best quality of life before they move to the next plane. I wouldn't stop doing it unless I could no longer care for them (my own health declines). It means a lot to have them about and for me, I don't want to not have at least one to be my companion. Hang in there.
Evil~Shieldmaiden
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on: March 10, 2016 03:22
Well said, Belle.

I am now going through the process of losing the eldest of my companions, my eighteen year old geezer. And, while I am fond of all my cats, this one is special, because he is the last link I have to my much beloved bullmastiff, Humphrey.

When Humphrey was about 10 months old, I decided to get a kitten from the local cat rescue place. Humphrey, who was regular visitor to the place, naturally accompanied me. While I was chatting with the owner, he got tired of waiting and went to visit kittens. When I to find him, he was laying on the carpet in the kitten room with a black kitten on the top of his rather large head. With Humphrey's tacit approval I named the kitten Seamus and we took him home with us where they became inseparable.

Over the ensuing years Seamus and I shared many events, including Humphrey's untimely death, and my unexpected challenges getting a grip on a relapse in my chronic depression. Throughout it all, he was literally by my side, and a more steadfast companion I could not have chosen for myself.

It's difficult watching the effects of old age gradually take him from me, but I consider it an honour to be his steadfast companion through this, his twilight time.

And, oh Sweet Irony, while I "count his days" upon this mortal coil; he lives as he always has: one day at a time and thinks "not at all" upon it.


[Edited on 03/11/2016 by Evil~Shieldmaiden]
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BelleBayard
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on: March 10, 2016 10:21
So beautifully said, ES. My oldest kitty is 18 now and declining from renal failure. She gets whatever she wants to eat and tolerates the medication I give her the vet recommends. I put my foot down though on the 50 ml of fluids between her shoulders every other day. It's a tiny amount and requires I stick an IV needle in the tissue between her shoulders and hold her in place while in runs in. I did it for one cat who was very young and in better shape. I won't do it to Miss Kitty. She is so frail and would be quickly in pain from the multiple sticks. She is as happy as she can be with an appetite far beyond her stomach's limits so she gets little bits of canned food several times a day. We got her as a tiny kitten, one of an abandoned calico's litter who wound up in the tire well of a neighbor's car. My young son (about 11 at the time) found her and begged us to keep her. Her eyes were all matted shut and her ears were a mess. She never got very big (very small frame), but she has a big voice and a 10 gallon purr. I will miss her when she goes, but I am so glad she has shared our lives.
Lindarielwen
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on: March 21, 2016 12:16
I always enjoy hearing about the antics of your cats, E~S, and Seamus gives your younger boys a run for their money.

Belle, my friend had to give her cat fluid with an IV and she did it faithfully. The cat lasted about 2 weeks and my friend was sorry she put her furry friend through that.

Well, here I am again, with not so good news. I don't know what is going on in my house but Legolas died last night. He was on the couch with me like he usually is and he started to cough. He coughed a little and then went limp. I picked him up but I knew he was gone. Gandalf died 2 weeks ago and now my little Legolas.

Legolas was pulled from the bushes that were in front of my house in Ohio with his brother, Strider, and his sister, Gracie. Gracie went to my neighbour and I kept the two boys.

Legolas loved the Christmas tree and claimed this year's as his own. He liked to climb on the bottom branches and sleep there.

This has been happening way too often of late. Grizabella died followed by Mickey Meows two months later. Cassiopeia died in November and Gandalf two weeks ago and now my Legolas.

I don't feel like saying anything else.

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My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
BelleBayard
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on: March 21, 2016 02:38
My heartfelt condolences, Linda. That does seem like you are losing an awful lot of furred friends in a short period of time. Virtual hugs to you, my dear.
Evil~Shieldmaiden
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on: March 21, 2016 03:08
I am so sorry to hear about Legolas' death. I know he was one of the cats that accompanied you to Florida when you moved.

It's always so difficult when we lose one of our animal companions, but to lose so many in such a short period, is especially taxing on the emotions.

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Gandolorin
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on: March 21, 2016 05:55
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Lindarielwen
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on: March 22, 2016 12:29
Thank you, Belle, E~S, and Gando. I feel so incredibly sad.

Legolas didn't like to wait for me to get the dishes on the floor. I only need the blue dishes now.

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My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
findemaxam48
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on: March 25, 2016 01:05
I have been volunteering at a cat shelter with over 50 cats recently, and they are a joy. I'll have to snap some pics of the little dears.

I am so sorry to hear about all of your furkids, Lindarielwen. I know they mean so much to you and to us all.
We were one in the same, running like moths to the flame. You'd hang on every word I'd say, but now they only ricochet.
Lindarielwen
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on: March 27, 2016 12:23
Thanks, Maxie. This has really been a distressing month.

How wonderful it is that you are volunteering at a shelter. By all means post some pics of those cats, we would all love to see them.

My destiny is riding again, rolling in the rain, unwinding in the wind. My destiny is fighting again, secretly unwinding..what it was I was supposed to say...to say to you today.
BelleBayard
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on: July 06, 2016 10:24
We took our two kitties to Colorado to stay with my daughter (a vet tech). Good news for my old Miss Kitty - while she has some chronic kidney failure, she is not in acute failure. She does have basal cell carcinoma on her leg and a heart murmur, but nothing so awful that cannot be tolerated. The leg lesion can be mostly removed and she is tolerating the much higher altitude without a problem. Sunshine, our 6 year old yellow long-hair boy, is his usual goofy self up there. I miss them, but I know they are being treated well by FFNH and Brego (daughter and son-in-law). Grand-daughter is almost 10 and loves cats so they are getting plenty of attention.
Evil~Shieldmaiden
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on: July 29, 2016 09:18
I just wanted all of our many cat fanciers to know that our friend, and fellow fancier, Lindarielwen, passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

She will be missed by all those whose lives she touched with her kindness and grace.

R.I.P. my friend.
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BelleBayard
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on: July 29, 2016 11:46
Oh no! I had no idea... so young. I am so sorry and hope that those furry friends of hers are beside her in the Summerlands.
Gandolorin
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on: August 04, 2016 04:40
My thoughts have also wandered to the furry family she left behind ...
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Gandolorin
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on: January 25, 2017 03:32
Scrolling through some pages here, it's obvious that our dear departed Lindarielwen was very much a driving force behind it. But I have also noticed that E~S, Belle, Maxie, Mareth, ... had also been active. Now I have never been more than a short-term cat-sitter and never a cat-owner (you notice my limited experience with cats by my use of that term alone, I'll guess!), but I call out to all with felidae furfriends to revive this thread - also in Memory of Linda, the cat mommy extraordinaire, who gave a home to so many of them.
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BelleBayard
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on: January 27, 2017 01:28
Our two kitties - the elder Miss Kitty who approaches 20 and is still hanging on and Sunshine, our huge long-hair yellow boy are in Colorado, awaiting our final move the end of March. Here in San Diego, the folks we're staying with got a tuxedo kitten late last year and boy, has he grown. He has huge feet and very long legs and tail so he will be large once he reaches adulthood (not even 6 months old yet!). I love having cats around. Miss Lindarielwen, but know that she is in the Summerlands with all those who passed before her, including her cats.
Evil~Shieldmaiden
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on: January 27, 2017 09:30
My old fellow, Seamus, is now 19+ and is going strong. He got a clean bill of health from the vet recently. Apart from some anaemia, which is common with chronic renal failure, his renal function is the same. His entire life these days consists of nagging me constantly for food. He eats like a horse but still has the frail build of the elderly.

The twins, Conor and Finn, are now heading for their third birthday, which I find mind boggling. I can scarcely believe that three years have almost passed since they came into my life. Both are big (as in over weight, thanks to Seamus and his constant "feed me" routine. They are more than happy to participate.

If I figure out how to download my pictures on my new laptop, I will post a couple here.

I really miss my conversations with Lindarielwen terribly but I know that, under the circumstances, she is in a far better place, and spending long, sunny days with the furfriends she missed so terribly in life.
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